Franchise news

Papa John's: first restaurant in South China

The Papa John's pizza chain has begun its expansion plans within China by opening its
first restaurant in the town of Shenzhen in the south of the country. The
company, which has 2,900 branches around the world – most of
which are franchise-run – is reckoning on a clear growth of its system in
south China.

"The Asian culture expects to receive high quality and this is what our
customers are given," explained Bill Van Epps, chief operations officer. Papa
John's is the second largest American pizza franchise chain in China behind
Pizza Hut and has, besides the new outlet, 15 restaurants in Shanghai and five
in Peking.

The first Papa John's restaurant to be opened up outside the USA was in
Mexico City in 1998. Today there are 415 foreign branches in 19 countries
including the Middle East, Canada, Central and South America, Portugal, Russia
and South Korea. In Great Britain, the company is the franchisor of 113 Perfect
Pizza restaurants.